BUILDIN' MO' Robby Gordon is hoping that Monday's season's-best 10th-place finish in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway will help the owner/driver lift his team up and move it in the right direction. As one of the very few single-car teams left in the sport, Gordon has wrestled this season with bouncing back and forth between the current NASCAR-style Nextel Cup car and the Car of Tomorrow. Without the vast testing resources and deep pockets of the mega teams, Gordon said so far building momentum has proven difficult.

"I think what teams can build is confidence, and I think that's where momentum comes from, is confidence," Gordon said Saturday at Pocono Raceway. "But right now, from switching from Car of Tomorrow to these cars to different cars to different pieces, different race tracks, different tires, there's so many variables in our sport right now, and the competition level is so competitive – I think momentum comes with confidence, and I think we're obviously starting to build some confidence here on our team. … We're kind of searching for a sweet spot with our race car. But, one thing I'm happy about is we've found a sweet spot with our car of tomorrow at places like Dover, and I'm sure it's going to work at Bristol, as well."

Cup commitments are just one part of a busy weekend for Reutimann. (LAT photo) » More Photos

DOUBLE DUTY NASCAR Nextel Cup rookie David Reutimann, who drives for Michael Waltrip's fledgling Toyota effort, is one of nine drivers scheduled to pull double duty between the Pocono 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race in Pennsylvania and Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300 NASCAR Busch Series race in Nashville. For Reutimann and the other Buschwhackers – Cup regulars who also race in the Busch Series – the process can be complicated, with cars, helicopters and airplanes to get back and forth between the two races with. Then there's the matter of simply keeping everything straight in his head between the two cars.

"You get out, you debrief, and you try to give everything up when it's fresh in your memory as far as talking to your crew chief and stuff," Reutimann said of his routine for today's final "Happy Hour" round of Cup practice at Pocono. "You get on the plane or whatever and you're thinking about the next race you've got to go to. They are separate racetracks and separate cars so it's probably a little easier doing that than it is doing it at the same track at the same weekend because then you get confused about what car needs what. You have to stop and think about it for a minute before you realize 'No, the car has been a little loose but that was on the other side of the garage.' You need to separate both of them. I think it's a little easier doing the travel part on a weekend. It's not hard either way but you've just got to think a little more."